MALAPPURAM (KERALA): In a severe blow to the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in Kerala, the opposition UDF on Monday surged ahead in the Nilambur Assembly by-election and was on the verge of victory as counting neared completion.
By the end of the final round of counting, Election Commission figures showed Aryadan Shoukath, the Congress-led UDF candidate, had taken a lead of 11,077 votes over M Swaraj of the ruling CPI(M).
Shoukath is the son of the late Congress stalwart Aryadan Muhammed, while Swaraj is a state secretariat member of the CPI(M).